The Sunday Times Parent Power Rankings Preview

[LondonParents]

Some of the schools have reported detailed GCSE and A-level results so we can now calculate the upcoming rankings for the Times Parent Power Rankings. SPGS has not reported enough detail on its A-level results. Mostly likely, it will rank anywhere from 5th to 2nd place. The table so far...

When do the ST Parent Power rankings come out? It’s a funny one, the schools listed are pretty much always in the top 10 or so. I remember an old headmaster at my children’s prep school saying that once you are looking at schools in the top 50 then there’s not all that much between them - go with the one that will suit your child the best.

December

There's also so much behind the figures - some schools discourage students from taking an exam that they don't expect them to do well in for example. That's not the type of school I'd want my DC attending. Sometimes the best schools are not the ones that are topping the league tables.

Do they use any prior attaintment in their statistics? Because frankly, if you select the top pupils at 11, you would exoect top GCSEs.

No, they do not.

I don’t find prior attainment a valuable metric when assessing children who’s parents are equally well educated and aiming for top schools.

More schools have published results. Based on actual reported results, this is now the current ranking

Same old :)

I wonder though who are those 1-3% at these schools that couldn't manage a 7 at GCSE...

It is obviously all about prior attainment and not about money spent. Because otherwise there would not be a grammar school in that list which has abysmal funding relatively speaking.
The problem is that prior attainment stays for life surely.
And when I went to the Oxbridge talk at DD2’s grammar recently they clearly said that they will be comparing the cohort against each other (at superselective grammar too and not just top private school).
Essentially the kids who are extremely bright are being pressure cooked from an early age and then the expectations placed on them become higher and higher. Because employers now do the same to Oxbridge grads to some extent in that some prioritise a First from less competitive universities.

As the kids who are bright anyway, stay bright anyway as that is just something they have, not sure whether it even makes sense to be striving for any form of elite education anymore if it is likely that the system actually encourages burnout in them before they are even earning money.

“I wonder though who are those 1-3% at these schools that couldn't manage a 7 at GCSE...“

Nothing wrong with a few 6s. It is still amazing by national standards. That is the whole point - it is entirely distorted and not good for a kid’s confidence. I mean who cares if you got a 6 in DT or some other random subject if you otherwise got mostly 7, 8 and 9s. Everywhere else you would be considered one of the smartest in the school.

Quite possibly DC who were seriously unwell, or experienced a bereavement or other difficult family event that year. I think we should all have sympathy for that.

Mine went to the schools probably on page 2 (!) of the list above. Of course DCs there get 6s- both mine did! Not remotely bothered and went on to nail A levels (unlike some of the straight 9s at GCSE kids). It’s not all high pressure, dog eat dog, stressed kids! I know DCs at Westminster and St P who got 5s- no extenuating circumstances, just a bad exam and possibly a bit unlucky. Not the end of the world.

Is the prevailing view then that if your DC is accepted into one of the upper schools on this list that regardless of affordability or bursary support, then you would recommend your DC decline the offer?

Taken further, if your DC were accepted into Oxbridge or one of the U.S. HYPSM schools, then again regardless of affordability you would recommend to your DC to decline the offer?

“Is the prevailing view then that if your DC is accepted into one of the upper schools on this list that regardless of affordability or bursary support, then you would recommend your DC decline the offer?
Taken further, if your DC were accepted into Oxbridge or one of the U.S. HYPSM schools, then again regardless of affordability you would recommend to your DC to decline the offer?”

@LondonParents -If the DC are confident and energetic enough to deal with it all, as well as naturally clever and hardworking, then go for it.
But if they are the type to have self doubts, perfectionist etc, then yes, it can be a risk! As any other more nurturing school will put them on a pedestal and build them up. It is not that elite schools do not also go in big on pastoral, it is more the fact that being surrounded by the top 0.5% ability wise can be disheartening as it does not reflect real life! And if others then keep holding you to that standard, even through ups and downs as a teenager/health issues, it is can be quite gruelling for some.

I agree with you. That makes sense. If a DC has meaningful self doubts then those upper schools and universities seem like a bad fit. Similarly, they also do not seem like they should pursue careers which require significant self-confidence and sometimes stressful situations. I agree, good points. Thanks.

It's a super bright intake and GCSE are a walk in the park for them. Many do GCSE that are not relevant to their unis in y9. 6 is objectively a failure for such a cohort, not the child's failure but the school's.

No one cares, that's true, except Oxford and medicine as far as I remember, but I'm just wondering what the schools do to fail super bright kids. Maybe it's the pressure as you say, but many of these kids thrive under pressure.

@LondonParents more so at secondary when adolescent MH is fragile, after all you want a mentally well adjusted young person at the end of this stage. Personally a good middle ranking school (like where Benenden is positioned) is where I’d be looking.
High school success with the routine and discipline is great for a long military career but it’s not a predictor of a good life and being able to navigate this dynamic era.

I see. So go for Benenden, and then go onto Oxbridge or HYPSM if that feels right when the DC is then very self-confident. Got it.

You do realise that its not 1-3% of the cohort not achieving at least a 7? But 1-3% of the total grades being a 6 or below.
Eg 100 children take 10 GCSEs so there are 1000 exam results of which 10-30 grades are less than 7. So only 30 of 100 children get 1x 6. Or 15 children get 2 6s when all the rest of the grades are 7 and above.

I do realise that but thank you all the same. What's the name for mansplaining done by a [presumably] woman? 😁

@Ubertomusic - do you seriously think a school has failed a child who gets a 6 at GCSE at a 'top' school? It could be a couple of questions they missed. They might be a maths genius but struggle in English Language. (Or in the case of a child I know get a 6 in English Language and a 1st at Oxford in English Literature). These children arent robots- 9s and 8s are not guaranteed.

And not all the kids are 'super bright'- they just happened to pass a tough exam when they were 6 years old or 10/12.

@LondonParents 11 or when looking at secondaries 10 is very young in the whole scheme of things. You want good teaching, fun and happy school memories so that when your 40 and having to do your second masters degree your happy to give it a go.

Absolutely, that seems reasonable. I'm all for happy and fun schools. Just out of curiosity, are the schools on this list unhappy and miserable? I genuinely don't know, maybe they are. I feel sorry for the students.

Honestly? Pick the school that you think will suit your child the best - there isn’t all that much between the school that is 5th (say) on that list and the school that is 25th.

Avoid schools that have a mad journey. It’s amazing how many parents are willing to sign their children up for a terrible journey to and from school aged 11 because the school is considered more prestigious. I think St Paul’s School for Girls now have a thing where they only want girls who have a journey door to door of 50 minutes or less - the high mistress said it was because sports teams start training at 7:30 so girls with a mad commute can’t take part.